The One With The Shattered Glass Heart
by the-smallest-sprinkle
Summary: He knew she could never love him, she, the one with the shattered glass heart, but he couldn't watch her hurt herself anymore. Is there time before the end of the world? DeWitt/Dominic pairing. Somewhat OOC... R&R.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first Dollhouse fanfic, so here's to hoping it's halfway decent! It's pretty angsty, but that may change depending on my mood when I write future chapters. As always, if you have any suggestions as to where the story should go, please PM me. **

_Disclaimer: I don't own. RAWR._

Adelle DeWitt.

The one he couldn't help.

The one he couldn't have.

She was his boss.

She was off-limits.

He, Laurence Dominic, could see the pain, the guilt,

The loneliness that she kept hidden,

Locked behind her mysterious green eyes,

Trying to stay strong for everyone else.

The pain that threatened to knock her off her feet.

The pain that everyone seemed to overlook.

Every day he saw it eating her up inside.

He knew he had to save her from herself somehow.

He didn't understand why no one else cared.

He didn't understand why no one else liked her.

She was beautiful.

He knew she could never love him.

Laurence Dominic.

The one she so desperately wanted.

The one she couldn't seem to speak around.

The one she knew would never love her.

No one could love the cold Adelle DeWitt.

Every day she watched him and silently pleaded for him

To save her from the prison

That was her own mind.

The alcohol helped.

The ignorance it brought

Allowed her to hold together the pieces

Of her shattered heart,

Easily broken, like glass.

The shards were sharp.

She had a tendency to hurt the ones she loved.

And he was her employee.

She knew he was off-limits.

And so they stayed apart, each watching the other from a distance,

Neither thinking the other could love them.

Trapped

In

A

Downward

Spiral,

Something

Had

To

Change.

Soon.

**A/N2: Thanks sooo much for taking the time to read this, it makes me feel good about myself. ;) For the next chapters I'm thinking about changing the format up a bit. This style was sort of… poetic, I guess. I don't know if I'd like it as a reader. But anyway, **_**please **_**review and tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Behold, the second installment... BWAHAHAHAHA! I'm feeling quite evil today... I wrote the next two chapters as well, but you can't have them yet. This entire chapter is written from Dominic's perspective. Adelle's is coming later. Constructive criticism is very welcome. Terrible reviews are better than none at all. So review! **

_Disclaimer: Sadly, the word is self-explanatory. _

Ch1

Laurence Dominic had always been a man on a mission, so to speak. Sometimes the completions of these missions led to a positive impact on humanity, sometimes they didn't. He honestly didn't care either way. As an NSA agent, he was simply doing his job.

Laurence walked into his office, still sore from the kick in the face the last person he was assigned to capture had given him. He _carefully_ hung up his coat, _carefully_ set down his briefcase, and _carefully _sat down. He was one of those men who could never do anything halfway, preferring instead to go way above and beyond what was expected of him. There was already a large stack of files on his desk. He had known before he even set foot in the room that they would be there. He knew without even opening them that they would involve the parameters of his next assignment and that for each person he would work undercover against, there were at least fifty pages of personal information he had to read about them. As much as he enjoyed his job, all he really wanted was a day off. He was already in a foul mood. Sighing, he opened the first page of the first file and began to read. What he saw pulled him straight out of his depressive state. The Dollhouse didn't exist. No way. How could he work undercover in a place that didn't exist? Quickly scanning the page for details, he frowned. He didn't understand what was expected of him. That never happened.

The sound of the door bursting open startled him. He looked up to see his stuttering, seemingly always frazzled assistant standing there with yet another huge stack of files. "S-s-sorry s-sir, all of m-my f-f-files are s-sorta j-jumbled up, I m-meant to g-g-give these to you b-b-but some of them w-were l-l-lost."

THe man's stutter along with his complete incompetence and the fact that he brought with him over four hours' worth of extra work pushed Dominic over the edge.

"You have GOT to be KIDDING me!" He gritted his teeth, "If you don't stop being an idiot and keep forgetting important files, then someday one of my missions is going to go _seriously_ wrong, and _when _it does, it will be _entirely_ your fault!" The corresponding scowl he gave the assistant was terrifying enough to make anyone pee themselves. Luckily, the other man had just gone to the bathroom.

Being called to the boss's office was a bad thing 90% of the time, but being a careful man at heart, Dominic knew he hadn't done anything wrong. He wasn't nervous, at least that's what he told himself as he sat in the massive room waiting. The door finally opened, after what had seemed like an eternity, and his boss, Mr. Rothshill, entered. the man was about five feet tall, but he carried himself with an air that made others around him feel as intimidated as if he were a giant. "I called you here to discuss your next undercover assignment," he stated, raising an eyebrow, silently inquiring whether Laurence knew what he was talking about.

"Yes, sir, but... the Dollhouse? Is this some kind of joke?

Mr. Rothshill chuckled, "No, indeed, Mr. Dominic, it is _not_ a joke. The Dollhouse does indeed exist, but it is not currently under government comtrol. You see how this could potentially be problematic."

Again, Dominic nodded, but wore a confused look on his face, "So you want _me _to take over it? _Alone?_"

"No, I simply need you to climb their ranks and get as many people fired as possible as you go, so the positions can be filled by our agents."

"Yes, sir."

"You received the files of people who work there?"

"Yes, sir."

"The woman in charge, DeWitt, I think is her name, watch your step around her. She's proven in the past to be far more perceptive and convincing than most."

"Yes, sir." He hadn't gotten a file on her, but thought nothing of it, mainly because this case was clearly different. Also, (not that he'd ever admit it) he didn't care what his boss said, he wouldn't be intimidated or manipulated by a woman, and probably an old, ugly woman at that. So he didn't mention it. Her file was probably filled with the kind of thing he _really _didn't want to know about her anyway.

"Good. Prepare yourself. You'll be leaving headquarters tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir." He said for the fifth time in a row, turning to leave.

"Dominic?" The sound of his boss's voice came from behind him. He turned slowly and somewhat exasperatedly.

"_Yes_ sir?"

"Take this seriously. _Very_ seriously. We need someone on the inside so that we know what they're up to. This will _not_ be as easy as you think it will be. It's not just your average run-of-the-mill infiltration. This is by far the most dangerous assignment you have ever been given, and I gave it to you because I trust you not to get emotionally involved and do the job right. Convince me I did the right thing. Don't disappoint me, Mr. Dominic."

"Yes, sir." Dominic left.

Walking back to his own rather dull office, he contemplated what about this mission made it so much more dangerous than the others he had been on. It seemed to him that even though the Dollhouse was a secret organization, it was semi-harmless. Seriously, how dangerous could an underground bunker filled with weird people be? There was one person whose file he read that he was specifically _dreading_ working 'with'. Topher Brink, the neuroscientist. Everything about him from his name to his case file picture, to the fact that he looked like a kid yet had inpressive credentials annyed Dominic beyond reasonability. Oh, well. He'd just have to get over it. It was going to be a long assignment, and he was prabably just being ridiculous and judgemental anyway.

The next morning, dressed in his best black suit and a no-nonsense tie, Dominic drove to his first day of undercover work at the Dollhouse. Upon his arrival, he was grabbed rather unceremoniously by two large men dressed entirely in black who demanded to see his ID. Despite the bit of confusion, he was unruffled by the exchange. Continuing on into the underground building, he was immediately struck dumb by the immacculacy of it all. He must have looked quite overwhelmed and lost, because a man came up to him and said soothingly, "Hello. Would you like a treatment?" Dominic gave him a strange look. As much as he hated to think it, he had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Finally he gathered his wits about him and said, "No, I'm looking for a Ms. DeWitt's office. I'm the new handler."

"Oh," the man called Hearn said simply, looking very stupid indeed. "I was ust going there myself for a debriefing, I could show you the way, and I'm sorry for mistaking you for an active," he rambled.

"Thank you," Dominic said, not really listening to anything the man said.

It seemed to Hearn that this was a man that was used to getting his way and people being intimidated by him. "Shall we go then?" he asked, starting up the longest staircase Dominic had ever seen.

Good thing he was in shape, he thought. About halfway up, his legs were aching, but the only indicator of that he allowed himself to show was him saying, not really to anyone, "This lady, whoever she is, had better be DAMN worth the climb."

Hearn just looked at him and laughed, "It's hard to explain, but you'll understand when you see her. But we have to get there first." For most of the rest of the way up, Dominic wondered what exactly he meant by 'when you see her'. Was she hideous? Was she terribly mean? Did she just enjoy seclusion? He didn't know. But he got a sort of tingling in his stomach, an odd feeling that he hadn't had for years, one that could only be described as excitement.

**A/N2: Voila! The next chapter! This definitely turned out to be longer than I expected, but I'm not sure if it makes sense to other people. It made sense in my head... If you notice anything that's confusing, just PM me and I'll try to close up the loops in the next chapters. Please review and tell me what you think! **


End file.
